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Updated on September 8, 2016 at 4:00 PMPosted on September 8, 2016 at 12:40 PM

Streetcar route changes Upt. Charles streetcars (photo gallery)

The June 2015 photo shows construction crews working on one the Uptown canal projects that is part of the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control program. Residents and business owners along Jefferson Avenue are upset with new assessments that show their property values have increased while the drainage project has restricted parking and access to their neighborhood.
(TED JACKSON)

Property owners along Jefferson Avenue object to the higher values they're seeing on their most recent Orleans Parish tax assessments. They maintain the years-long major drainage project on their street should make any increases minimal at best.

Members of the Jefferson Avenue Neighbors organization will hold a community meeting Thursday evening (Sept. 8) with Assessor Erroll Williams to discuss his valuations. It will be held at the Unitarian Church, 2903 Jefferson Ave., and start at 6 p.m.

Contractors working on the Southeast Louisiana (SELA) Urban Flood Control project are expected be on hand, along with city officials, Councilwoman Susan Guidry said in a statement. The Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the drainage work on Jefferson, Napoleon and Louisiana avenues, was also on Guidry's list of possible attendees, but spokesman Ricky Boyett said via email the corps met with Jefferson residents last week and would not attend Thursday's meeting.

Guidry said she met with Williams on Aug. 12 to discuss complaints about new assessments from Jefferson Avenue property owners. Other issues they have raised to her include parking problems, safety concerns from having to park away from their homes, and interrupted garbage collection. Guidry said neighbors have "workable solutions" for the problems and want to share them with officials

Some Uptown residents have taken their concerns to court, blaming the drainage construction on the three major thoroughfares for damage to their homes and businesses. A federal judge has assigned a mediator to help end the $86 million dispute involving property owners and the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board.

Construction started on the $102 million Jefferson Avenue project in 2013. According to the Corps of Engineers' website, Phase 1 of the Jefferson Avenue Canal project is 52 percent complete with work expected to end in November 2017. Phase 2, which was expected to conclude last month, is 98 percent complete.

In addition to Williams and corps officials, representatives from the New Orleans Police Department's 2nd District, Sewerage and Water Board, and Department of Public Works are expected to attend the meeting.

This story was updated to indicate the Army Corps of Engineers would not be attending Thursday night's community meeting.